Primarily, the conflict in Frindle exists as individual vs. individual. Nick and Mrs. Granger represent two polar opposites and the primary conflict resides here. Mrs. Granger represents authority and Nick, especially in the early stages of the book, is anti- authority and proves to be defiant of traditional structures that take away power from those who are not in the position of it. The conflict between both Nick and Mrs. Granger is due to the power of language, but really it seems to be one of control. Mrs. Granger, in assigning the report, wants to be in control of the power of language. She wants to be the source of knowledge, which is why she assigns it to Nick. For his part, Nick tries to subvert this attempt by his coining of a new word. He deliberately choose words as the battleground as a challenge to the teacher. The conflict is individual vs. individual, and while there is a peaceable resolution, the antagonism is between Mrs. Granger and Nick. You might want to check out the enotes summary of the novel, as well.

The conflict of this book is that Nick a fifth grader created a new word for pen which is "frindle," thats where the title come from. But his teacher, Mrs.Granger, doesn't let any of the student use it because she thinks pen is better than frindle.